Julie Valerie Interview - The Peculiar Fate of Holly Banks ~ JeanBookNerd

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Julie Valerie is the bestselling author of the Village of Primm series. She serves on the board of directors for James River Writers; co-founded the Bookish Road Trip, earned an editing certificate from the University of Chicago Graham School; and has a master’s degree in education, a bachelor of fine arts in fashion, and certification in wilderness first aid. A former trend forecaster, Julie enjoys books, the study of wine, hikes on the Appalachian Trail, and travel. She married her college sweetheart, and they live in Virginia with their four children and two English Labradors. Holly Banks Full of Angst released December 2019 with Lake Union Publishing. The Peculiar Fate of Holly Banks, the standalone second installment in the Village of Primm series, releases November 24, 2020, also with Lake Union Publishing. Learn more about Julie and join her author newsletter at julievalerie.com.

What inspired you to pen your first novel?

I’ve wanted to be a writer since I was very young. I remember writing my first novel in a spiral notebook while sitting on my bedroom closet floor. Every school year, in addition to the typical school supplies in my backpack, I always carried a spiral notebook specifically for writing in.

Tell us your latest news.

My second novel releases with Lake Union Publishing on November 24, 2020, and I couldn’t be more excited!

Who or what has influenced your writing, and in what way?

I’m constantly inspired by the work of authors I admire.

Tell us your most rewarding experience since being published.

Hands down, the most rewarding experience I’ve had since being published is watching my children’s reactions to their mom finally accomplishing what they’ve watched me work toward for years, and years, and years.

What do you hope for readers to be thinking when they read your novel?

I’d love for them to think of my main character, Holly Banks, as a friend. A close friend. I tried to write her to be as relatable as possible. And I’d love it if readers found the Village of Primm a place they’d like to return to again and again. That would be amazing.

Can you tell my Book Nerd community a little about it THE PECULIAR FATE OF HOLLY BANKS?

The Peculiar Fate of Holly Banks, the second installment in the bestselling Village of Primm series, is about . . .

A wife, mother, and aspiring filmmaker clings to the pursuit of perfection only to have fate play with every plan she’s made in this quirky, contemplative, and empowering novel.

About the Book: Holly Banks is on a desperate mission to have it all, but nothing in life goes according to plan. She’s quickly learning that keeping up with the Joneses is a full-time job, especially when the women of Primm, her new neighborhood, seem to have it together all the time.

With her husband’s job in flux, her daughter’s difficulty with learning to read, and her mother’s new zest for dating, Holly’s life is already anything but picture perfect. Then her dog digs up an old artifact in the village center, and the mishap draws the attention of local media. Because of course it would.

Holly finds herself at the center of a mystery between two rival towns that, if solved, could change the Village of Primm forever. Attention is the last thing she needs as she’s launching a new business, the village-wide “Parade of Homes” is approaching—though she’s hardly unpacked—and she needs to submit her entry for an upcoming film festival. Can Holly still create her perfect (looking) life? Or is fate about to go off script and give her a story she never could have imagined?

What part of Holly did you enjoy writing the most?

I enjoyed all of it. Writing Holly and hanging out with everyone in the Village of Primm is so much fun for me; it’s genuinely what I most enjoy doing. Writing, and spending time with characters I consider friends.

If you could introduce one of your characters to any character from another book, who would it be and why?

I think it would be a riot if Holly Banks could hang out with Bernadette in Maria Semple’s Where’d You Go, Bernadette. I also think she’d have a blast partying with Sophie Kinsella’s Becky Bloomwood and Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones.

What’s the most ridiculous fact you know?

I know a lot of really bizarre and useless things. It’s hard to pick just one. Hmm . . . Saturn’s rings will disappear relatively soon as far as space-time goes. And I believe the inventor of Pringles is buried in a Pringles container?

If you had one day in your life to live over, which would you choose and why?

Difficult to say. Contenders would definitely be my wedding day and the birth days of each of my four children.

What event in your life would make a good movie?

I’m section hiking the Appalachian Trail with my best friend. We began hiking the 2,000+ miles (from Georgia to Maine) in 2017 and hope to finish by 2035. Every trip we take is an adventure. That’s for darn sure!

What is something you think everyone should do at least once in their lives?

Take an authentic Finnish sauna in Helsinki, Finland.

What is one unique thing are you afraid of?

It might not be unique, but I’m terrified of snakes.

What was the best memory you ever had as a writer?

Typing “the end” on my first novel in a beautiful cottage at my favorite vineyard.

Where can readers find you?

The best place to find me is on my website at julievalerie.com. While there, you can subscribe to my author newsletter and find outbound links to all my social media platforms.

TEN REASONS TO READ THE PECULIAR FATE OF HOLLY BANKS

1. Though you can read The Peculiar Fate of Holly Banks as a standalone and not read the first installment in the Village of Primm series, if you have already read the first book, I think you’ll enjoy seeing what happens next to the characters and village.
2. Enjoy mysteries? Though this book isn’t a “mystery,” it has a mystery in it.
3. Enjoy romance? Though this book isn’t a “romance,” it has romance in it.
4. Enjoy folktales? This book has one of those. Like to laugh? There’s plenty of that.
5. Love dogs? Struggle, Holly’s chocolate Labrador is responsible for many of the twists and turns in the plot.
6. Questions about fate, destiny, and luck are raised. See what happens when life goes off-script.
7. A crossword puzzle plays out across the village, and you can solve it step by step while reading.
8. There’s a stop motion film embedded with the text.
9. Consider the moon. Watch an astrolabe in action. Visit a cartographer’s shop.
10. Like she sheds? Bullet journaling? Coffee roasting? Spend time with Holly and the villagers in the Village of Primm. A lot happens in this book that I can’t disclose here without spoiling the plot.

Your Favorite Quotes/Scenes from THE PECULIAR FATE OF HOLLY BANKS

A twenty-five centuries-old folktale known in Europe as Henny Penny, known in the United States as Chicken Little, plays out in interesting ways throughout the novel, so I’d have to say the most important quote from the novel is undoubtedly: The sky is falling. Read The Peculiar Fate of Holly Banks to see how elements from this folktale play out.

A wife, mother, and aspiring filmmaker clings to the pursuit of perfection only to have fate play with every plan she’s made in this quirky, contemplative, and empowering novel.

Holly Banks is on a desperate mission to have it all, but nothing in life goes according to plan. She’s quickly learning that keeping up with the Joneses is a full-time job, especially when the women of Primm, her new neighborhood, seem to have it together all the time.

With her husband’s job in flux, her daughter’s difficulty with learning to read, and her mother’s new zest for dating, Holly’s life is already anything but picture perfect. Then her dog digs up an old artifact in the village center, and the mishap draws the attention of local media. Because of course it would.

Holly finds herself at the center of a mystery between two rival towns that, if solved, could change the Village of Primm forever. Attention is the last thing she needs as she’s launching a new business, the village-wide “Parade of Homes” is approaching—though she’s hardly unpacked—and she needs to submit her entry for an upcoming film festival. Can Holly still create her perfect (looking) life? Or is fate about to go off script and give her a story she never could have imagined?

Praise for THE PECULIAR FATE OF HOLLY BANKS

“Picking up where Valerie’s first novel, Holly Banks Full of Angst, left off, this will fit right in with loyal Kinsella readers, fans of Tom Perotta’s Mrs. Fletcher, and those who enjoyed the suburban intrigue of the Netflix show Dead to Me.” —Booklist

“Valerie combines laugh-out-loud situations with heart as Holly navigates her newest challenges…Recommended for those who enjoy reading about relatable heroines and parents who are trying to have it all.” —Library Journal

“Both down to earth and beautifully surreal, Holly Banks’s latest adventure is a story about courage, family, and friendship that had me hooked from the very first page.” —Lea Geller, author of Trophy Life

You can purchase The Peculiar Fate of Holly Banks at the following Retailers: